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The Color of Money:
Though
consumers may not be conscious of it, color plays an in integral role in why
they elect to buy certain products. Successful companies invest a good deal of
thought into what color is most likely to trigger the desired response in one
targeted group of buyers or another. Indeed, no matter how artfully a
product’s package may be designed, if it utilizes an inappropriate color,
it’s less likely to make it off the shelf. I kept all this in mind as I
recently perused the aisles of Wal-Mart and the Dollar Tree, and I must say
those visits brought to light several interesting patterns… Red
is the color of blood and fire, so naturally it is associated with brawn, power.
Products looking to sell you on their vigor prominently feature red in their
packaging. Colgate uses the color
to stress its ability to fight off tooth decay; Old Spice will keep you dry;
Drano will unclog your sink’s drain; Vive will give your curls volume; Tide
will get out even your clothes’ most stubborn of stains. Red is also used to
prompt impulse buying, so the aisles before the checkout are routinely awash in
the color. There’s Big Red chewing gum, Marlboro cigarettes, Krackle and Kit
Kat candy bars, Doritos grab bags, and Skittles. In fact, red (which is known to
arouse hunger) is used more in food packaging than any other color. The list is
almost endless: Coca-Cola, Cheez-Its, Campbell’s soup, Banquet pot pies, Smart
Ones lunches, Cap’n Crunch cereal, etc. Blue
is often used to denote cleanliness: Listerine mouth wash, Stay Free sanitary
napkins, All detergent, Ultra bleach, Coast soap, Dasani purified water, etc.
Blue is also thought of as a strong, masculine color, so it’s used to help
promote the reliability of Rayovac batteries and Finesse’s “ultra-hold”
hairspray, the potency of Viagra, and the promise of tending to a fellah’s
mean appetite with Hungryman TV dinners. (But blue is also known to suppress
hunger. It’s no coincidence that the most popular fast food chains—KFC,
Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s—all make use of a predominantly red color
scheme.) Blue also generates confidence, thus it’s often employed to move
electronics like Sony VHS tapes. Green
prompts feelings of safety and well-being, so you’ll see it used in the
packaging of wholesome food alternatives such as Healthy Choice’s
“7-Grain” bread. I noticed that it’s also used when a company wants to
take on a more refined air: Freschetta’s pizza uses green to separate it from
cheaper pies on the order of Totino’s. (Green, of course, is the color of our
currency, so companies will use it to make their products more attractive to
wealthier consumers.) Green is also used time and time again to denote something
that will refresh you, i.e. 7-Up soda, Tic Tacs, and Lever 2000. Orange,
the color of the sun, conjures up notions of energy, and is prominently featured
in the packaging for Lever 2000’s new “Energize” bar soap. Duracell also
uses the color effectively in its branding, not to mention Fram air filters,
Gunk’s “Engine Brite,” and Autolite spark plugs. Orange, though not as
forceful as red, rouses the appetite, and it’s used to sell edibles that
promise to help build strength, such as Wheaties. Yellow
is a happy, almost child-like color, and it’s used to promote toys made by
Little Tikes, Imaginext, and Play-Doh. You’ll also find yellow in the
packaging of many fun foods like Jeno’s “Crisp ‘n’ Tasty” pizza pies,
Totino’s “Mexican-style” rolls, Eggos, Cheerios, Swirl Winds Popsicles,
and so forth. Purple is often used to sell elegance, and since it’s something of a feminine color, it’s used liberally on bottles of Simply Basic’s moisturizing body lotion, Equate’s beauty lotion, and FX’s curl boosting gel. Toddlers are said to have a penchant for the color purple, too. How else could you explain the popularity of Barney? September 15, 2005 © Copyright 2008 by Edward Larsen Terkelsen. All rights reserved.
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